Product Review – Woodhaven’s “Raspy Red Reactor” Turkey Call!

UPDATE on the Raspy Red Reactor,

Feb. 2, 2014

It looks as though Woodhaven has solved this sticky problem!

Not long after receiving the replacement call that had some of the same issues as the first, I received a follow up email from Scott Ellis himself wanting to verify that my problem had been resolved. Scott is the Head of the Pro Staff for Woodhaven Custom Calls and Pro Competition Caller. After relating my story over the phone and a number of email exchanges Scott had Woodhaven forward another replacement call and this one performed as designed.

-What Went Wrong?

Scott related that their tape supplier had received a bad batch of adhesive and that the problem has since been corrected! That was good news to me because I really liked the quality of the sound from the Red Reactor call. I was planning on this being my new go to call for this coming spring.

-What I Like About the Reactor?

As I stated in the beginning of this review, I’m no competition caller but I have been using diaphragm calls for my entire turkey hunting career. I have always had difficulty trying to blow a three or certainly a four reed call and just stayed away from them for this reason. Personally, I found that it took so much air to make a sound on them that I couldn’t really call soft on one. I first heard about the “Raspy Red Reactor” when I saw Scott Ellis demonstrating it on Youtube. He is an awesome caller and it really got my attention when I saw him reproducing every call in the book on this thing.

I am having a bit of trouble with a kee kee on this last reactor for some reason but hopefully I can over come it. Other than that, I can handle anything form soft tree calls to really aggressive cutting on this call. It purrs really well also.

I really appreciated and was impressed with Scott taking the time to follow up and make sure this problem was resolved. Matter of fact…..I just sent out an order for (2) more Red Reactors and (1) Yellow Venom. I’ll make a post on the Yellow Venom when it arrives.

Initial Review

June 10, 2013

Recently I was watching champion turkey caller Scott Ellisdemonstrating his signature call, the Raspy Red Reactor by Woodhaven Custom Calls. Scott is an awesome caller and I was impressed with the sound of the call and the fact that he could make every sound made by a turkey using this call.

I decided I needed to give the Red Reactor a try. At $10+ it is at the upper end of the price range for diaphragm calls, especially given the short life expectancy of this type call when compared to other turkey calls.

My preferred call is the simple double reed call with no cuts and I have killed a pile of turkeys with one of these. As a matter of fact most of the turkeys i’ve taken have fallen to this call. However, this type call is a clear sounding call that produces very little, if any rasp. I also find a little rasp desirable. The rasp comes from the way the reed is cut or split.

On the next to the last weekend of the season, I cut some sign of a gobbler that had strutted down a dirt road on the edge of the lease. This bird had been heavily hunted and was only alive because he spent most of his time across the fence. The next morning I set up on him and I decided to put some “Raspy Red Reactor” on him. Exactly 2 minutes after hearing his first gobble, he was standing 30yds in front of me looking at my decoy! This Tom had been hunted hard by some pretty good hunters and was one of the few remaining mature Gobblers left in the area. I dubbed him “The Last of the Mohicans!” Click the title link for the whole story.

Though the sound of the call and its performance on the first field test was super impressive, I had a problem…..about the third time I used the call I noticed the tape was coming off.

I was torn on what to do with the call given the issue of the tape coming off. The call sounded so good I did not want to give it up for a replacement.

After the season was over I called Woodhaven to discuss the matter. They asked me to send the call back to them and they would provide a replacement at no charge.

Against my better judgement but thinking that the replacement call should sound basically the same, I shipped the call back to the manufacturer. After about a week and a half I received a package in the mail from Woodhaven……my new call!

I considered not using it until next season but couldn’t resist giving it a run. Boy was I disappointed! I could hardly do anything with the new call and the calls that I could get out of it did not sound that great.

That wasn’t the end of the bad news…..you guessed it, the tape was beginning to show signs of coming off after only an hour of use. I don’t know what to think about these calls but I can’t use them if the tape is going to keep coming off like this. I cannot ever remember running into this problem before. I will contact Woodhaven again to let them know about the problem but I can’t see myself wagering more money on one of their calls. When I’m guiding another hunter, I need to be confident in my call and know that if I have to go to a new call in the middle of the season, the new one will sound and preform just like the previous. So far, I am sorry to say that Woodhaven is not living up to that expectation.

So….the hunt for the best diaphragm call goes on.

Here are some photos of the original failing call. However, I must say that this did not seem to affect the sound of the call.

If there are any updates on this product I will post them as they develop.

If you have had any similiar issues, please add a comment to share with others.

Thanks,

Larry S.

If you would like more information on the “Raspy Red Reactor” call, just click on the link.

LaCrosse Men’s Alpha Mudlite

LaCrosse Men's Alpha Mudlite Waterproof Boot
Excellent Boot for Turkey Hunting, comfortable right out of the box, great traction.

Avian X Turkey Decoy

One of the best turkey decoys on the Market. Relatively easy to carry, Super Tough and as Realistic as it gets! Click on the photo above of text below for more information.
AvianX Breeder Turkey Decoy, Camo